Smell The Ashes
by QuinKilo
Summary: So this isn't Earth, that's... apparent enough. This world has its problems, it has its characters. But Earth has a psychotic AI taking it over; I'm not going to just sit around and do nothing. There's a way back, there's always a way back.
1. Wake Up, Mr Prower

_**Note: **_**For this story, all canon stops with _Shadow The Hedgehog. _Games such as _Rush,_ _Unleashed_, and so on have not occured in this timeline.  
**

_Respected characters belong to their respective owners, respectively._

Smell The Ashes

By QuinKilo

_1_

_Wake up, Mr. Prower._

I groaned. My head was spinning.

What… what... Oh, my head…

I flopped my hands on my face and rubbed my forehead.

I feel… like my head's imploding.

What happened…? The last thing I—

I froze, "Sonic."

Holy crap. Did he get away? Did I buy him enough time? Did I…

Wait.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

I'm alive.

…_huh_.

I groaned and forced myself to sit up, rubbing my skull as waves of pain rolled through my head.

I blinked the world into focus. The room was small, simple, and clean, made of glossed brick on two sides with the others being a thick, brown cloth hanging from small hooks on the wooden ceiling beams. I sat in a bed, covered with a blanket, and nestled against one of the stone walls with room to walk on both sides. There wasn't much to it other than a small table made from a rather thick slice of log on three legs, the… candle—purple candles?— candle that lit the room with its flickering light, and another swath of cloth hung on the other stone wall to my right, probably a window behind there.

Somehow, I don't think it's the same night.

I carefully lowered myself back down onto the cot and rubbed my face, sighing.

"My head…" I groaned, closing my eyes and sinking into the pillow. …this bed is extremely uncomfortable. Almost feels like a large lump in it.

Is it a tail? I rolled slightly and moved them off… Okay, never mind. …but the thing _still_ feels like it's made of sand.

Another pang ricochet through my head; I seethed.

…I'd complain about this, but I prefer it to being vaporized.

I opened my eyes and looked at the ceiling, watching the shadows in the wood dance from the flame. Pretty much anything beats being vaporized. …I just wish I didn't get Sonic captured.

Since when is Shadow _that_... aggressive with his army? No, that's not the word… I mean, he threw several dozen CyArms away just to make sure I couldn't get to Sonic. Just as a buffer. …okay, true, he's got an abundance of alien cyborgs to throw at the problem—but ArchEnforcers? That's a lot of tech to put up as fodder…

…at the very least, the majority of the Resistance got away. But without Sonic….

I sighed and wiped my face.

We're pretty much screwed unless we get him outta there.

I looked back up at the ceiling through my fingers.

And just what was Shadow getting on with that double-edge sword deal? I'm no threat to him, not without my… labs….

Hold the…

I sat back up and looked at my hands.

"What the…?"

My fur… it's a much darker orange. Almost a rust-orange, maybe with a blend of a dark gold. Did the soot really—no, it's the actual color.

I checked my arms—the rust orange deepened and the dark gold ran in small lines up it under—what happened to my clothes? Where is my jacket? Where's…

…certainly explains the blanket.

I pulled the blanket tighter around me and looked around the room again—where _is_ my gear…?

"Probably with the rest of your clothes," I chided myself, shaking my head—then immediately regretted it.

I scowled and looked at arms again. Lines of dark, orange-gold fur… more like orange-gold-tipped fur over a darker orange. Why is my fur two colors at once?

Wrong question, idiot. Why is has my fur changed co—

"We've-otta small problem," A female voice came from beyond the curtain said. Someone's out there? Well, duh, I got here somehow. "Lookat this." She certainly isn't talking to me, but it sounds like she's relatively close.

"Kazin, ssss…" A male voice hissed lowly. Almost low enough I couldn't hear him. "He's awake." He doesn't seem to have the odd abrupt, slurring accent… Kay-zin has.

"Then why'ven't you gone in?" Kazin sighed, her voice getting closer to the curtain.

"Well, with what you—I'm giving him time to adjust before—" he stopped before he fumbled further. "You thought he was like—not from _here_."

"Certainly isn't a Liov, nor any type-uv hybrid this thing makes him out te'be. If I can't ask the oth, I'm gonna ask him." There was a rustle of paper. She was right outside the curtain. "Okay, I go in. You stay here. Once I'm done, you can do your thing, Doc. I'll go easy on him. No. He knows me—my voice at least, not yours."

…I do?

The curtain was pushed aside and… a female fox came through. I sat up, pulling the blanket in tighter.

"You," She said, jabbing an accusatory finger at me, "are a pain in the ass, you know that?" She fumed and her pale green eyes narrowed icily.

She's… not a fox. Those aren't the ears of a fox. That certainly isn't the face of a fox. Foxes don't have two rows of teeth. …foxes don't have forked tongues.

"Also. You lied to me. You _do _have the Avasal Remnant after you, if I'm-ta believe this thing."

The general structure of her face seemed to be a fox, or canine at least—her eyes were wider and muzzle more blunt, but I thought that was just her. But, her ears…Two low triangles, were peeking out from her hair, looking very much like mine. …only they seemed to be one or two inches tall and looked like they were cut from the same triangle—an isosceles missing the middle two inches.

It was just her… head that caught me off guard. Other than that… she seemed to be just like a fox. A few inches shorter than me, maybe a year or so older. Silver-reddish fur and shoulder-length hair of the same color. She seemed to be fighting a war with her bangs to keep them out of her eyes. The lower half of her muzzle was a light silver with a vermillion undercoat. The silver-vermillion circled back up the sides of her head, lining the outer half of her eyes, and seemed to give her eyebrows. A thin tail swished behind her, a deeper red than the rest of her.

Her clothing also threw me for a loop. She wore a clashing forest green short-sleeved shirt and what seemed like jeans. Only I didn't recognize the materials. Over her shoulder she wore a guard of sorts that circled her neck; I don't know what metal it was. Nor did I know the metal her elbow-, knee-, and… whatever they call the bit of armor that goes on the forearm. She wore fabric gloves backed with some sort of armor in them, the index and middle finger and thumb covered in the metal while the other was fingerless. …she only has three fingers, plus the thumbs.

"What are you? You're not a fox."

She looked away and rolled her eyes for half a second before looking back, "And you're notta Liov. Why do you have the Remnant after you?" She took two steps and trusted the paper into my face.

I blinked and went to take the paper—Kazin pulled it away before I could grab it. Frowning, I looked at it…. Yes, that's me. …wait a second.

I glanced at Kazin, "What language is this?" Lines, scribbles and semi-geometric figures lined the page, linked together in clumped squiggles. …alright, that describes a lot of languages actually –it just certainly ain't any language I've seen.

Kazin dropped the paper on the bed, leaned down, looked directly into my eyes and half-squinted, the little lines of silver-vermillion indeed acting very much like eyebrows.

I leaned backward a little bit, pulling up the blanket for all the security it was worth. I felt a little awkward, flushing slightly as my ears flattened. Kazin seemed to glance at them for a second, eyes blinking fully open as he pulled back a little bit.

Her hair ruffled on its own—I doubletaked at two red-furred, semi-triangular things stuck straight out from her head with her reaction.

I jumped back, flattening myself against the wall.

"…you have four ears," I said softly before I realized I was right, watching the two angle back under her hair. They… what?

"And you've only two," she shot back. "No horns either." _Horns_? "Seems we've a false bounty, Miles Prower."

"This thing has my name on it?"

"Psh, no." She grabbed the paper, crumped it and threw it over her shoulder. She sat down on the end of the bed. I shrunk away from her, scooting up against the wall. "All that talk wasn't just for show out there then, tri."

"I'm… I don't… we talked before?"

Kazin scowled, her head drooping, "Should've seen this." She looked up, "You don't remember anything back at the Seep?"

"At the what?"

"The Luphorine Seep."

"…luf-er-rine?"

"Loof-or-een—nevernairil."

"What?"

"Nevernai—just forget about it. It's probably for the best considering how pathetic you looked."

I blinked, "What happened to me? Why…" I held up my arm, "Why is my fur like this? …it should be a lighter orange."

She shook her head, "Why are you asking me? You were like that when I found you." I can't help but notice she's talking much slower to me than she did to whoever's outside the curtain. She's not jutting as many words together as she can either. "…okay, do you want this blunt or do you wantta figure it out on your own?"

"Figure what out?"

"Luph's made you a bit dense. Okay. It's obvious you've no freaking clue on what I am, right? Well, I and Doc've no freaking clue on what you are, either. Why would that be?" She paused, almost hopefully. "Miles, wherever you're from, you're not there. Not anymore."

"I'm… sorry?"

She frowned and looked at me, her… second pair of ears flaring slightly. She looked away quickly and huffed. "You're on anoth planet—there do you understand that?"

"I'm… what?"

"You are on a planet we call Theia, where _I_ live and _you_ are not from. And not the… Shandroid Empire thing you mentioned."

"What."

Kazin huffed again and glared at the candle, right hand tapping her leg as her hair ruffled slightly. She looked back at me, "Okay. Let's try this. What is the name of your planet?"

"…Earth."

But she's saying this _isn't_ Earth?

"And what was the last thing you remember from Earth?"

Stop talking to me like I'm four; I leaned forward, "I sacrificed myself trying to save my best friend from a sociopathic AI who is based off one of our old friends and has been enslaving my planet for the last eight years. I really should be dead right now." I leaned back against the wall, looking at her with a completely stoic face.

It took a few seconds to sink in, "You're not lying." She seemed to pale, her lower-left ear flaring perpendicular to her head, eyes going wide for a moment before she stood up and took a step away. She then started pacing, one arm propping up the other to rest a thumb on her forehead, her tail swishing idly.

The world blurred—agh! An… other one. I groaned and raised my hands to my head, flinching as the pangs echoed through my skull.

"NNnng!" I groaned. My. Head. My. Head. My head.

I looked up.

"That's wrong." I said through the headache. Kazin stopped and looked at me. "I… I don't know why but that's wrong. That's… not what happened. I don't—"

My head is imploding again. Ow. Ow.

A string of words shot through my head.

I panted, "But… but…" I looked up at Kazin as I recited them before realizing it, "The Hurricate Island Curfew sheet is to keep track of who's on the island. There is no real need to check in, it's just to keep track of who dies on it—what is… why do I remember…? Why _that_ of all things?"

"I told you it when I was digging you out of that hole." I barely felt the weight on the edge of the bed again. "You can forget things with Luph-men…"

She was drowned out as sounds screamed past my ears too fast for me to hear. Conversations. No, _a_ conversation. Just one. My voice, Kazin's voice. My screams. Pain. Pain. Forcing its way in and imbedding itself into my head.

I looked at her, and kept myself from hyperventilating. "Okay, so I'm remembering. I'm remembering…. Then… That—my dying save? I remember that after… after. I blacked out from the Luph-mending thingy, and then that all happened? But… I…. It was too real to be just a dream." I looked away and rubbed my head. The migraine was finally fading. "But if it was a dream, then the last thing I really do remember is…"

…it was quick at least. For them, anyway.

Kazin was silent; a quick glance told me she was waiting for me to go on.

"The Lab," I shook my head, "It's…. I only saw a dozen or so of my friends get turned into ashes in a heartbeat and had a front-row seat to a matter/anti-matter explosion." I looked at her, "If I really am on… Theia, right? If I really am on Theia and not on Earth. How did I get here? Dying save or lab raid, either way I should be dead."

Kazin shrugged, "Dunno. But hey, you're extremely lucky to land in my Luphorine Seep."

I think she's said that before, not as nice, but I think she definitely said that before.

"Thank you for not using that as a threat again… How much was that finder's fee?"

Finder's fee… when did she say that? When I was in the hole, duh—right after she woke me up. That's right. She woke me up and… froze me? …am I remembering this right?

"Qwark's disappeared, left when I sent word to Doc about you. Prob' thought you were dumped there by someone looking for him and bounced town. I was just told I owed him a favor but the Luph's mine. You owe me." She shrugged again. She took then stopped. Over her shoulder, "Idea. Maybe whatever got you here—maybe that wos what changed your fur col'. Also explains the two tails. Also could explain a few oth things…"

Oh boy, here we go. "I'm supposed to have two tails," I sighed. "It's a birth defect."

She looked back at me, "…one tail then."

"One ta—" I immediately looked behind me.

Oh.

I didn't notice the silence until Kazin broke it, "Get some sleep, you're going to need it."

The curtain rustled.

"...I've got three tails."

**_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_**

**So, here we go again. This is a complete rewrite of a story of mine called **_**Orpheus Incursion**_**. Incursion's still up on the site if you want to give it a read, but I don't recommend it. And while this version does follow a similar plot in spirit, its actual implementation is going to be drastically different to the point where it's another story. It already is another story.**

**Also in the plans are better pacing, better characters, no dafsen mansion to get stuck in for half the story. That and I can't stand reading the original anymore. **

**Anyway, enjoy and thanks for reading. Any feedback is welcome. Thanks.**

**...and for the record, only this chapter name has anything to do with Half Life. The actual title, while influenced by HL, is for something down the line. Sorry if anyone thought that.**


	2. A Side of Stories

_2_

_A Side of Stories_

"Your lungs seem fine. …I assume your heart is here?"

I pointed a few inches on my chest above Doc's gloved claw, almost laughing. "This is absurd."

Doc Hriish laughed, almost in a hiss. …or is that a scoff? "Indeed," His tone was amused at least. The stethoscope, made of wood, plastic and the tiniest bit of metal, fished around on my chest.

There's a five-foot sea lizard wearing a helmet, guards on his arms and tail, and a doctor's get up giving me a basic check-up. I'm glad you agree with me. Even for me, this is new.

"You're very close to… well, you've got the lungs of a Liov, almost the ears of a Bly except—" he glanced up at me. "Sorry. I-I'm—" He sighed. "…as a doctor, I had to study all of the species here on Theia in order to treat them. And… you're very similar to several of them, all put together." Okay, now that's his laugh. Less hiss, some actual laugh, more like a wheeze. "But still…"

His eyes went distant before he grabbed a small notepad with one hand and began scribbling on it with some sort of pen that attached to his index finger. I watched as the squiggles were scrawled out.

"You're heart seems to be your own, it seems," He said after pulling the stethoscope away. "Four-chambered pump, like the Bly, but a _bit_ larger." He scoffed, "I don't think we can sell you off as a Bly though."

"Too tall?"

Doc estimated for a few seconds before stopping his hand. "You understand what I mean by this, yes?" From the floor to his hand…

"They're that short," I said, my ears drooping. That's around three feet there. "I was taller than that when I was eleven."

He pulled the stethoscope out from his ears, his reptilian face showing way too many fangs for me to be comfortable with. "And you recognized what this is," He held up the stethoscope before putting it in a small box.

"It looks almost exactly to the ones back on Earth," I shrugged, "Well, aside for the bits for your ears." They were more like clips than earpieces. They clipped onto a vertical spine running over where his ears were… I think.

Doc Hriish shook his head, "Amazing. You're from a completely different world from us and we have fundamental things in common. Basic gestures, basic tools."

"Well, probably because the basic principle is the same—amplifying sound. The stethoscope is extremely simple and direct. I mean, I don't think I'll be seeing any real, complicated stuff… nevermind." I looked away.

"Basic tools," Hriish repeated and put the box in its drawer. "It's still strange that we can under… …ah…."

"Yeah, 'ah.'" I repeated with a scoff. "This… this isn't home. Yeah, I'm fine now, but…" I looked at him and sighed, "I'm stuck on this rock with no way home—no way to help my friends…."

He hesitated a moment, eyes a little confused. He shook his head, and disappeared through the curtain "Well… I'd honestly say that there's probably nothing to worry about your friends but…"

"There's no way I can't not worry."

"I and Kazin still don't really understand what you mean by that." He paused for a moment, glancing out of the frosted window for a second. "…I realize you've been through much, but, if you don't mind, can you tell us?"

"What's going on back on Earth?" I sighed and shook my head. "Doc, I'd rather not go through it all. This is all a shock. Both this and…" I motioned to myself, "This.

"I know—I wouldn't ask if I believed this to be important. I'm not asking for the details," he reappeared through the curtain with a small pile of clothes. "We're still trying to understand you and, believe me, it'll help a lot. Just take five minutes and sum up everything as short as you can. I just need to know where you're coming from so I can help you better... both physically and mentally."

He's not gonna just give me the clothes, is he? I scowled, "Fine."

"Thank you." He handed me the clothes. "You're going to get a few odd glances for wearing a Liov shirt and Vion pants. But hey, it's the only thing we have to fit you. I think I have something for your ears as well. Hopefully, your tails will distract from all that."

I'm not sure if he's being nice or if that was a snark.

"Thanks." Shirt, boxers, jeans. No shoes. Basic, but functional. The jeans definitely were made differently from the shirt and material was a bit waxy too. Well, Vion are aquatic, right? Probably waterproof or watershedding or something. I looked back up and coughed. "Uh…."

Hriish nodded and stepped back out through the curtain.

I sighed, looking over the clothes, "Alright. If you want the story, I'll start from the beginning. I've got a nickname—"Tails." You know, from my two—three. Three tails." Hriish took a breath to remark on it. I paused, but he didn't say anything. "I got it from my best friend, a guy named Sonic…. Sonic the… how the heck to I get my tails through this thing?"

_~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~_I_~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~_

"We thought we were safe after Shadow killed Black Doom," I paused to take a drink of water. Kazin scoffed at me. Ah, be quiet. I had to start over for you. It's not a pause for drama, my throat is dry. I put the glass back on the table. "Then he turned and killed Robotnik a day or four later."

"Okay, I'veen dying to ask this—why didn't ya kill this Robotnik earlier yourselves?" Kazin asked bluntly.

"You don't think we tried?" I shook my head, "So I glazed over what happened after we beat him but he's an expert at getting away. A real escape artist. And when he's not running or fighting us, we actually _need_ him to help us—on the ARK and with Metal Sonic? Yeah, okay, he was the source of both of the problems that time, but he had an entire army he could just throw at the Black Arms without any support or whatnot…. He saved lives in the end and we can't really deny that from him."

Who knows… maybe he found something in the act of doing so? Bit late to ask him.

"…anyway, it turns out the original Shadow _did_ die when he fell from ARK. The one who helped us later was a creation of Robotnik's. Somehow, he figured it out and went ballistic. Called himself the Ultimate Battle Android and decided to raise up an army of Androids and take over the world.

"But he couldn't make pure robots, not with the finesse he wanted them to have. He wasn't Robotnik; the Eggman kept all his plans in his head. So… he did the next best thing. He rounded up all of the Black Arms marooned on Earth and… made _them_ in to robots. He used certain organic parts of the body to support the mechanical side. Like… the lungs? Low level Shandroids still breathe. They have to—the lungs are coated in heat sinks. Hot air goes out, cool air goes in, hot air goes out. Stop breathing and they fry. Probably the easiest way to kill them was to rupture the diaphragm or fuse all the vents shut. Well, until Shadow decided to install fans to move air amongst other things. The higher up the Shandroid, the more sophisticated and, well, invulnerable they become."

I took another drink. Kazin was watching me with an intrigued, but flat stare. The Doc on the other hand, he slowly seemed to realize exactly how horrific it all was.

"By the time we realized exactly the scale of what he was doing, he already was attacking. CyArms—the roboticized Black Arms, they're the lowest Shandroid there is but it takes so much to take them down. He just sent waves and waves of CyArms at everything all at once. The Black Invasion was terrible, but this time everything was coordinated to the second. He completely overwhelmed what little was left of GUN and most countries' militaries.

"And… He actually did it. Shadow actually took over Earth. He had better units that Robotnik could ever had, more resources than we could imagine, and… well, he transcended his body. He became an AI jacked into his own mainframe. He can tap into any of his units with half a thought and command the rest of them to kill with the other.

"He didn't stop with the CyArms though. He raided prisons and, well, we call it assimilation after…." Do they even _have_ TV here? "Nevermind. It just became a sudden reality that any crime in Shadow's new regime could result in… volunteering for his army."

Kazin finally blinked and sat back in her chair.

"So… Sonic, what was left of GUN, and everyone else became the Resistance. I mean, what else could they do? They certainly couldn't live in the hell Shadow was making. Along the line, Knuckles took Angel Island and retreated into the sky. We… don't know what happened to him or anyone that accepted the refuge he offered."

"'Sonic, GUN, and everyone' doesn't include you, Miles," Hriish noted.

"I have my reasons," I snapped. "Sorry… it's just…. I needed my own lab to be of any use—I could replace everything except for four—no, three things. One of them being my Fake Emerald catalyst machine—the thing's huge and I can't take it apart. By the time the Resistance was formed and had things set up, Shadow pretty much locked me down. I ended up being a liability—any contact with them meant Shadow might have been able to trace their location and then, well, no more resistance. At the very least, he was forcing me to be neutral, denying the Resistance to what I could do else he could track them. Else he'll nuke my house."

I sighed, putting my face in my hands.

"Eventually, I managed to figure out a hole in his surveillance and was able to slip out of my house without him knowing…. I immediately set up various labs around the world for the Resistance and helped spearhead their research at them. We had just finished plasma weaponry—something that would give the edge to us for once! …and Shadow raided the lab… much too fast for most of us to react. Well, it turns out he never really bought my neutrality but didn't realize I was actually helping the Resistance this much.

"I had plasma weaponry, he had anti-matter explosives. The two do not mix. And… well…."

"I somehow find you in my Luphorine Seep looking like absolute crap," Kazin said flatly, but shook her head, stunned. She looked at Hriish, "And I thought we had issues." She got up and walked away towards her equipment near the door. …her tail has two tips—it splits two-thirds of the way down.

She's defiantly no fox. More like a mutant Buizel without the floatie thingie—a knock-off of the knock-off of me.

Hriish exhaled, a little depressed, "How long has it been?"

"Eight years. Eight years since Robotnik was killed. That's half of my life spent in fear and paranoia." I noticed Kazin looking back at me, freezing in the middle of checking her bow. "Five of those dedicated the plasma weaponry—and now it's all gone." I sighed. "All for nothing."

"Eight years?" Kazin echoed.

Gosh-darned unit mix-up salad.

"What was it—_weeks_. Yeesh, sorry."

Their years are what I call seconds here. I think. For some odd reason, all the… names of the denominations of time are just scrambled around. I dunno, we're going to need to just flat out compare instead of figuring it out when something doesn't make sense. …is everything just scrambled up or do they call them differently.

…how are we speaking the same language anyway?

She rolled her eyes, "Well, yeah. But… if it's been eight weeks, and if he's really that powerful, whysn't Shadow just clamped down on everything by now? He probably could have found your friends in a heartbeat if he tried."

"I asked him once, he ignored me."

Kazin double-taked, "You _asked—_"

"You don't want to know that story. Just… …I've been trying to forget it. Let me. Please."

There was an awkward minute of silence. I shuddered, just don't think about it. Just don't think about it.

"Right," Kazin said suddenly. "With Tri's Bounty flagged for faulty information—

"Faulty information," Hriish butted in. "Is that the best we could do?

"Itzza _Fwal_ bounty," Kazin hissed. "Ya don't say, 'Hey, you're wrong!' to the Fwal." She sighed. "'sides, Miles' just happening to look like the guy could be coincidence—he could actually be out there still." She paused. Doc just sighed and shook his head. "Anyway, I've got a Warrant ta pull in the forest and a Missing Persons over in Knothole I wannta check out. If it's nothin', I'll back sometime tonight."

I looked up to see her ice-blue boots disappear through the backdoor of the Clinic. A warm breeze blowing in before the door closed again. I looked back at Doc, propping his elbows on the table as he rubbed his forehead.

"She uses my clinic as a base," He said somewhat grudgingly after a minute. "It's nice since no Blackhearts like to mess with her and she gives me a discount on the Luphorine I need for the dire patients in return. But she's… well… she's Kazin."

I glanced around, as if a wood stove, metal pots, pans, ice chest, water pump over a sink, counter space, and shelving would help me understand what he was getting at.

Hriish groaned, "Nevernairil, you'll get to know her—you're not going anywhere for a few days. Doc's orders."

I hesitated for a second, "Is there something else with Luphorine?"

Hriish laughed, "If it was just the Luphorine, you'd be fine by now. You were out for days, remember? Far longer than the healing to take place.

"Three weeks—sorry, twenty-one days?" If a week is a year here, what _is_ a 'week'?

"You were out for five," Hriish's head tilted, "Why twen'-one?"

I shook my head, "It's nothing. Just… something from that dream I had." I sighed sharply and sat back in my chair, shaking my head. "I still don't get why I remembered that perfectly and forgot everything with Kazin—and I don't think the entire experience brought it on either. It was painful, yeah, but not enough for that."

"…you've been in worse?" He said incredulously, his narrow eyes narrowing even further.

Well….

"No, actually," I said finally. I looked out the window. All I could see was turquoise leaves waving in the wind and the orange tree bark behind them through the single pane of glass. "A few times close, but nothing that bad—and that's saying something." I laughed at myself and shook my head. "But I only blocked two of the memories. Nowhere did I have a funky dream like that."

"Miles," Doc interrupted in a firm voice, "It's not uncommon to forget things after a large dose of Luphorine." I groaned, not the Loofo-rine spiel again… "_Especially with how much you needed in order to stabilize you_—Kazin figured you had broken more than a dozen bones—"

"Including my leg," I grimaced.

"Especially your leg," Doc emphasized. "Add on massive internal bleeding, a ruptured lung…. You're extremely lucky to have stumbled on Kazin's seep. Even luckier that your leg mended perfectly. I guess it's due to it touching the surface of the seep. That was probably was the only thing keeping you alive out there while she got you out."

And I'm starting to hurt again at the very mention. "…I don't think I 'stumbled' on it."

"_My point_," Doc stabbed. "There's a level at which Luphorine becomes a hallug." Uh…? "With the amount that leeched through your leg and the doze Kazin gave you direct….Leeched? Amount? Hallug?" I nodded. "A hallug is something makes you see things that aren't there."

Hallucinogen.

"So you think I just hallucinated it all?" I don't like the thought of that.

"To be blunt, yes. You _hallited_ it all," He said flatly, putting a hand on the counter. He sighed after a second. "Now that I think about it, it makes sense now." He looked away, "Lupho Doses and Unprocessed verses Processed…. who wrote that paper—it's in _Wells and Errm_, isn't it?" he tapped the counter in an odd, lopsided beat. He almost said something but shook his head. "Short and long, you're fine. The Luphorine should have passed through your system two days ago."

"What exactly is the 'proper' time of being KO'ed by a healing liquid?"

"If you were to have any further adverse reactions to the Luphorine, you would have had them by now. I think you're in the clear."

"'Further?'"

Hriish opened up one of the cabinets next to the sink and took out a small box, "Your body went into a sort of shock just after the Luph-Mending started." I'm not sure if he's ignoring me or not now. "Despite the fact you _never_ move anyone in the Mending," he glared at the door, "Kazin brought you here. Well, that and the storms started up. They call it Hurricate Island for a reason." He sighed. "She did the right thing though; you both probably would be dead if she didn't move you when she did."

He tapped the box on the counter twice, "I've still got another patient to check on upstairs," He said mostly to himself and put it back. He looked at me, "The joys of being a Vion doctor—got to make sure I don't kill them while I'm trying to save their life." He smiled… he's wearing a mouth-guard? …those are some fangs he has there. "There's a reason you don't see many of us Vion being a multi-species doctor. _Won't_ see many of us."

…he… does have a point. Many, many points. Just taller than myself, his frame was halfway narrow and halfway bulky by itself. If it weren't for the guards he was wearing both on his back under his doctor robe, on his arms, and on his tail and the helmet on his head, he was probably hydrodynamic enough to get some good speed in the water. His feet-flippers—covered in a sort of shoe— were angled outwards, though, and he waddled slightly about when he walked. On the outside of the shoulder of his robe, there was the right half of a green circle with two lines arcing into the flat side of it.

His scales were a dark sandy yellow, rippling into lighter and darker colors over his hide. His head was mostly wedged shaped, like a majority of the reptilian populace of Earth, but his narrow eyes were angled slightly upwards with a lot of white on the sides… probably at ten/twenty degrees. His silted pupil weren't angled with the rest of his eyes, the oval of black running straight up and down. His irises were amber. I couldn't tell if he had ears, the round helmet he wore completely covered the majority of his head with a breathable mesh around his neck. Heck, what his doc robes didn't cover, the guards did. Only the top of his muzzle was uncovered.

Unlike Kazin, he had five fingers—four and a thumb and all were clearly webbed in the glove. The thing was made specifically for webbed hands with little parts between the fingers for the web itself. The thing also had metal tips under the rubber.

"I'm not sure how long it'll take. Hmm…." He glanced away for a moment. "Today's Baannol, yes? Right." He looked back at me, "For now, have another perigua. Terra'kai." He headed up the stairway in the corner.

"Terra-wha…?"

"I'll be back in a few," He sighed and disappeared up the stairs, his shark-like tail flowing along behind him. Rather long, it too was covered in a guard from the tail fins most of the way up.

"Whatever, Doc," I sighed and looked at the basket on the table. "Per-ee-gua…" I half mocked the name and picked one up. Is this going to be the main source of my diet now? A reddish-purple apple with skin and fruit of a banana and tastes like peaches and grapes, all rolled into one? How do these things even grow—I mean. They're waaay too heavy to be supported by… or do they grow like coconuts?

I sighed and peeled off the skin—I sneezed.

"Ugh." Pungent things too. Way too sour… tastes pretty bitter too. Tart… very tart aftertaste.

I coughed and put the empty skin with the others in the wooden bowl. This can't be the only fruit they have here.

You know, I remember at least one hedgehog doc back home who had to wear something similar for his quills. …yeah, I'm starting to see all the reasoning behind the precautions.

I rephrase my initial assessment of him. He's basically a walking sea monster with about four ways of killing me by bumping into me.

And if Kazin's not the only one who has that weird ice power…. Maybe everyone here has four other ways of killing me. Kazin too—provided she doesn't just decide to freeze me in ice again.

My stomach was having an election and the results were divided—half was still hungry and the other wanted nothing to do with the periguas.

I gave the fruit a long stare. ….this is one of those things I'm just going to have to get used to. Bad-tasting food is…. okay. Food I can't eat without losing my nose however….

I leaned back in the wooden chair, lolling my head to the side… three tails… dark fur….

I sighed, slightly shivering.

The stairs creaked again as a footsteps slowly came down them.

"That was fast."

"Well…" Doc faded off. I looked over at him, he waddled to the part under the staircase before it made its ninety-degree turn. He opened the paneling—a door?

"Uh…? Should I be seeing this?"

"It's just my lab, it's no secret that a Doc has one," he shrugged. He held up a vial… that's blood in there. "Just have to put this somewhere cool until I can send it off…." He tilted his head slightly, rolling the blood around in the vial as he looked at it.

"'Send it off?'" I echoed, "…oh, for tests. I take it you don't have the equipment for blood tests… here." He's looking straight at me. He doesn't usually look straight at me. He usually looks off to the side and looks at me from the center of his eye instead of the inside ed—oh, god. "No. No. As a patient, I refuse. I will not allow you to draw blood from me. No. Absolutely no."

Hriish blinked, turned his head slightly and looked at me like he usually does. He then laughed slightly, turned and went down another set of stairs, "Relax, I already drew a vial or four while you were out." His tail pulled the door closed behind him. "Just wondering about something else."

I crossed my arms and huffed, wrapping my tails around myself, "Now I remember why I never liked hospitals…."

_~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~_I_~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~_

**Well, there's Tails' story.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	3. A Flipside of Stories

_3_

_A Flipside of Stories_

"So remind me. What exactly was Kazin waving around in my face yesterday?" I asked the Doc. He took out the mouthguard and grimaced—two pairs of fangs swung down over his bottom jaw, sticking out when he closed his mouth. Small ones near the tip, larger ones halfway back. The larger ones were longer than his jaw was thick. I found myself inching away from him.

"Warrant for arrest," Hriish said with a shrug. He reached back and started to unlatch the helmet. Four latches back there, all looked worn and repaired often.

"Sorry, what?"

"Apparently, a few months, maybe a decade ago, someone destroyed New Avasal—it's a town far more than half as far away from here as you can get. It's mostly refugees from Avasal... running from the Void."

…I don't think decade actually means 'ten years' here.

"The what?"

"It's some sort of giant… energy field thing Avasal's put up—it's a country that _is_ as far away from here as you can get. New Avasal just used its name though, like I said, it's a city." He waved in the air, as if it would clear his thoughts. "_Anyway_, the Viod's black as night and tears apart anything that tries to go in it—save for a few specific points. New Avasal's near one of them, but a solid long ways a way. It really isn't that important," He sighed as he pulled the helmet off and set it on the kitchen counter.

He does almost look like a hedgehog, just way too many freaking spines the back of his head. ...if hedgehogs were lizards. He had a sort of plate, scaled a more mustard color, that ran from his nose, up his head, fanning out as it went towards the top of his head, the eyes cut into it, his eyelids completing the pattern. Around the forehead, the plate split into three, allowing two large spines to jut upwards, ending an inch or so above the rest of his head. The left and right branches of the plate split into several spines, two large ones, a small one, and a few underneath them that I couldn't make out.

The top branch ran tangent from the top of his head, probably running long as his head is tall. The plate had a few patterns running through it, mostly where it bent. Several spines grew off the back of his head, most angled downwards, save two that angled upwards between the branches of his little crown thing. Everything seemed almost symmetrical enough to call it so.

His nose was slits towards the front of his muzzle, with several small gills behind them. I also noted three larger pairs of gills on his running almost vertically down his cheeks, the third half-covered by one of the spines. Two more pairs ran horizontally just below the jawline. He had no spines on his neck.

This explains why his eyes never really change expression except narrowing; they're locked in that armor plate.

After his pause to observe my reaction, he continued, "Basically, a survivor detailed a Liov-Bly hybrid with several entropic traits in odd spots around town, probably where the bombs went off. …she explicitly stated that the attacker had two full tails."

"Uh, I kinda have three now."

"True," Doc nodded, sitting down at the table and untying the knots on the gloves. "But the survivor was Avasalane—their language's a bit weird. A bit like Kazin's Demivane, but much worse. They drop a lot of words in their language and assume you know several things. …the short of it is, when an Avasalite says you, 'Have two tails.' They mean you have two, plus the one you naturally have. Usually. Mostly. The problem is," he scowled as he couldn't get the knot to loosen—a hiss that swept from high to threatening. "the survivor was trying to meet the rescue team halfway—half the time she spoke in Demi, the other half was in full Avas…. basically they're not completely sure on what she actually meant.

"The notice said several things may be off so most people are just eyeing all Liov-Bly hybrids a little oddly. Kazin isn't the only one who raised flags on it, but it was put up by the Fwal… they're the ones keeping the peace around here. Don't get me wrong, we adore them when they're around, but they rarely put up any bounties. And, well, the ones they do usually mean they're desperate. They've been desperate lately."

"Why didn't they interview her again once they got her stabilized?"

Hriish froze, let go of the knot and softly rapped his fingers once on the table. He looked up suddenly, "She died."

"Oh."

Hriish's fangs, both pairs, angled back slightly as he glanced away. "But anyway, she got the fur coloration all wrong. While you _can_ look like a Liov/Bly hybrid with entropic traits," he laughed slightly, "It's clear you're not. I'm a Doc, I can figure out something. The problem is, is that you're a kor-and-a-half tall. That's unheard of for a Liov, nevernai Bly. We're still lucky you just happen to look like them, but you're still going to need some Vion background to account for your height. …maybe Jabril."

Oh great. He's having an absolute _field day_ with this, "Jabril?"

He paused for a second, "Think Vion, but instead of water, air. They, uh, have wings."

…I don't get— "Wait, you have _dragons_ here?"

Hriish looked out of the window, half-lost in thought, "Jabril would make more sense, seeing how resilient you are… but it would be a far-off relative of the Lineage then. Several times removed, even. The height could be a dormant or recessive trait and it just happened to appear in you—_that's how we could do it_."

"Doc!" His eyes snapped to me. He looked actually quite pleased with himself, "What does it matter? Don't tell me you go out every day and gloat what species your ancestors are because, if that's a thing here, I _really_ am going to play rebel and tell them that their family trees can burn for all I care!"

Doc looked at me blankly for a few seconds before he blinked in sudden understanding. "Right, sorry."

"Whatever," I sighed. "Why can't I just be a tall Liov? Kazin's about my height, what's the big deal?"

"Actually, I'm pretty sure Kazin has some Vion heritage in her." I groaned and hit my head on the table. "I'll mess with the Hybrid Charts and blame the rest on entropic genetics—but don't worry, I won't cut you up."

I huffed, "Y'all just put me on ice then—just what is that, anyway?" Excellent segue Tails. Completely inconspicuous change of topic. "Back at the hole, Kazin… froze me in ice to get me out? That was ice right? Is Kazin using some sort of cryo device or….?"

"Emp'tre?"

"Emp-tree?"

I looked up in time to see Hriish recoiled in shock, blinking, "You… don't have…?" He reached back and scratched by his ear, "That's… …well, that changes the perspective on your world a little bit. …everything makes a bit more sense now…"

I sat back up, "Emp'tre."

"Right," he shook his head. "Eh, I'm not the one to give you the best example—I'm an AnoThun. I… my Emp'tre is Thunder."

"…still don't get it, but go on."

"Thunder… it's a two part Emp'tre," He fumbled, rubbing the a spot behind his third gill, "Well, all Emp'tre have multiple parts to them—sorry, I just never had to explain this before—everyone just _knows_ about this."

"This ain't a stethoscope, Doc."

Doc nodded, "Well, with thunder, there's the actual thunder—the _shock_, yes? Like on stormy days?"

"Okay, lightning, I call it lightening. Thunder's the sound. …are you telling me that people here can shock people with their hands?"

Like with, you know, _UNLIMITED __**POWAAAAAAAH**__!_

"Well, severe shocks are illegal, as are most assaults with Emp'tre. But out here it's a bit more lenient on where the line is. Most Emp'tre are actually volatile when they first develop. With Thunder, light shocks and accidental discharges are expected to occur and I have medicines here to help with that. But, uh, the side—the side I have… see that cup over there?" He pointed to the other end of the table to the metal cup Kazin was drinking out of. I nodded.

I felt my fur stand on end for half a second. After another, the cup slid slowly over the uneven surface of the table to Doc's outstretched hand.

Oh. My. God—the Force _does _exist.

"Of course, I can only do it on metal objects. I'm an Ano—my Emp'tre isn't that strong. There are some stronger Emp'Thuns that can pull wooden things along, or even launch themselves up in the air. Me… I float my tools. The only actual Thunder thing I can do is light jolts of static and…."

Okay, so it's some form of _magnetism_, but it's still _cool_!

"…Miles?"

"Sorry, that's just the most awesome thing I've seen in a long while. Well… most awesome thing that wasn't trying to kill me."

Hriish blinked, then slowly laughed, looking fully away for a second.

There's Unlimited Powah, Mrs. Freeze.… "What other Emp'tres are there?"

A few of Hriish's spines under the plate rustled… he can move them?

"Well, not many," He started, "There's Fire, Water… and Light and Sound. Uh, Light and Sound aren't exactly Light and Sound but they pretty much amount to actual Light and Sound. Oh, it's also possible for people to have two of them… having Ice and Fire sometimes gives what amounts to Wind. And then there are those who just don't have any. …and then there's those who claim to have some sort of Emp'tre of the nai. 'Psychic' they call it." He said the last part dismissively.

Magic basically. This is magic... with psychic powers thrown in. Well…. You know what, whatever. No, really. As long as there are no robots going around trying to kill me, as long as I'm still alive after all that, I don't care what leniencies with the laws of physics and reality this world has.

Doc sighed, a little unsure of himself, "Sorry this… I wasn't expecting you _not_ to know what Emp'tre is. Do you at least have a basic understanding of it?"

Yes/No?

…there's always the possibility that I have fallen into an RPG? I already have a guy with what amounts to anime-styled hair and a female mercenary with a love/hate attitude and questionable ethics that's saved my life. Isn't that how most JRPG's start off?

Sonic said he's had dreams of falling into Arabian Knights or whatever… who says I can't fall into a game?

…instead of dying…?

…or is this heaven/hell and everything was wrong about it? A bit odd for this to be heaven judging by the amount of pain I was in earlier…

"Uh yeah, I guess," I said. "Anything else?"

"Well... there's the Dupri and their… we call it Darkness to fit the theme, but it isn't anything really like it. Remember this: You can tell if someone's a Dupri if they have Darkness. As if you can trust them… well…" he sighed, "They have the lab equipment I need to run tests so I can't say much."

"Uh?"

He shook his head, "The Dupri are a bit shady—uh, it's by their nature. They've also got a very dubious origin myth that ties into … nevernai. The important thing about the Dupri is, if you ever run into one, be careful."

"I'll be sure to write home about it. What do they look like…" I blinked. If I recognize them by their Emp'tre and not what they actually look like, "Wait, are they a race or a _cult_?"

Hriish was suddenly focused on the knot on his gloves, his fangs retracting slightly again. I raised an eyebrow.

"So where exactly am I in this wonderful world of Theia?" I asked, getting the hint, "I remember Kazin telling me something about… the Forest Provence?"

Doc nodded, I watched his fangs drop back down, "It's actual name is Vidril Pnevi—some Fwal name they've given it. Translates to "Behind the North Wall." The North Wall referring to the glaciers, well, down north. We just call it the Forest Provence because of all the trees this far north."

"_Down_ north?"

"Yep, down north—we're on one large peninsula—probably an island connected to the rest of the world by the glaciers. There's several islands around as well, but it's kinda difficult to get out to most of them. To get to Other Side, you have to cross the North Pole. Caravans cross it every so often and they're working on a train of sorts."

"Why not just sail across?"

"…sail?" Hriish gave up on the knot again and looked at me from the corner of his eye, "Oh… right, right, right. No, we can't just sail. There's something in the oceans that destroys any ships that venture out too far."

I scoffed, "Oh, come on. You guys have magic. More importantly, you guys have magic and I'm not bothering to be skeptical or analytical about it. Yet. And yet the best you can come up with is 'something out there is destroying everything we set to sea?' Not even a Sea Monster?"

Like maybe a giant Vion-dragon hybrid with entropic genetics?

He looked at me, this time with a bit of annoyance, "It's documented. It's tested thoroughly. On this side of Theia, the seas _boil_ far away from land, and nothing alive on the ships survive. The farther you go into, the hotter it gets. Avasal… before the war— and when they were still focused on keeping Theia together— sent hundreds of drone ships out, trying to find a safe passage through. They _melted_."

"Melted?" I blinked, "How do—they were made of steel, right? …metal?"

Hriish nodded, "If the hulls didn't melt, everything _else_ did or burst into flames or destroyed in some fashion or another. Eventually, the slag washes up somewhere. Arkell, it's how they discovered this place—the cameras survived long enough to see the trees. So they made a pilgrimage through the cold to see what the envoy through the heat saw. There are a few dozen or so towns over here but down the road from Sequoia is Knothole. And from Knothole, the forest ends and the Blistering Sands stretch until Boil, the Vid-most tip of the land.

"Vion like myself certainly can't survive the trip to Boil on foot, but the only thing there is the Observatory. There, their telescopes look over the ocean. I've heard you can actually it boiling on the horizon, sometimes without the 'scopes. If we get a cloudy night, the clouds will be glowing green at Boil. They sometimes see it at Knothole on really warm days. It's _something_ off in the ocean. No one knows what it is because nothing can survive out there. And it's been boiling for as long as we've been writing things down."

"…and Hurricate Island?"

"Named for the Hurricate-like winds it gets." Ah-ha! It _is_ a language typo. "All the heat makes a hell of a wind as it rushes towards the cool air of the north. It what keeps us warm—this forest never sees snow unless the wind shifts. It sometimes does, it's a scary thing. Two kor's of snow—two-thirds of how deep that hole you were in—a bit taller than yourself, try that. Give it a day, it'll be on the ground. When the wind shifts back, give a week, it'll all melt and the fun really starts. It rains every so often and that also can get a bit… interesting. You'll know when it's coming, trust me."

This is a bit too much, even for me. I rubbed my temple, "…so… there's an entire area of ocean no one knows what's going on in?"

"Boil is the farthest place out in to the storm," He said, shaking his head, "And it only sees green lights in the sky. There's a Sea Monster out there, her name's Nature." He pulled sharply and undid the rest of the knot. "Does Earth have anything that can beat that?"

"We've got half our moon blown up by an insane scientist."

"Sorry, doesn't count. But yeah, most people think whatever's causing the green lights is the source of everything. It's a shame we can't get anything up into orbit to look from up there—we got two things up there. The first one broke, the second one ran into the first one. Yeah, pretty much our reaction. Then all space programs got put on hold as War broke out and then a famine…" he untied the other knot with a flourish, "Big mess. But that's why I like it over here. No one owns us over here. Too far away to have any sort of colonial or imperialistic get-up. Anyone attacks; we just cut off the food caravans and let them all starve. Not that hard. The Fwal don't care, they're just here to keep the peace even if their homeland's starving. All the soldiers' families are stationed over here so they don't have issues with them starving. That's why we love the Fwal. Yes, they are the ones who set up the bounty."

He sighed and held up a hand before I could say anything.

"There's not much anyone can do about it. Avasal's Void swallowed four countries, ravaged nearly all of the main farmland for three others, and, well, Avasal certainly isn't exporting anything. That's a lot of land gone that supplied for a lot of people. And they've lost the main Quinesnice mine at New Avasal due to reasons you're aware of. Uh, 'esnince is a crystal we use for power here. There are a few mines on the peninsula, but they're still trying to find the large veins. Prices for a single korCryst increase everyday….

"The Forest Provence is probably the only thing keeping attrition wars breaking out on the Other Side. Water from the Glaciers, food from us, both in exchange for Tech from them that don't work most of the time." He waved his hands again, "It might not be the most glamorous thing, but the trade is the only thing keeping us safe from them. That's enough about that. You don't have to worry much about it. There's spare a room up in the attic, across from Kazin's. Congrats, it's yours. Word of advice, don't bother her when she's trying to sleep."

"Uh, thanks?"

"Don't worry about it. The priority now is to get you settled here in Sequoia, Miles. …at least until something major happens and everything goes to hell. I'm just being honest—it will. Not anytime soon, but it will."

"If anything, I'm kinda used to post-apocalyptic worlds. And, well, at least there's a clear beacon of hope here for the moment."

He cleared his throat and pulled off the gloves. Yep, he has claws. Trimmed, but those are webbed claws.

"Shame that someone's keeping the fog around it—I've gotta house call to get to and I need to grab a few things…" He disappeared back down to his lab, waddling faster than I've seen him before. "Terra-kai."

I blinked and looked out the window… okay…?

_~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~_I_~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~_

**And now, to alleviate confusion, a quick overview of the lexicon of Theia because ****Tails is never actually flat out told most of this.**  


**A Theian '_Year_' is an Earth **_**Second**_**.  
Minutes are the same.  
A Theian '_Second_' (usually said as 'yund') are Earth **_**Hour.**_**  
Days are the same.  
A Theian '_Month_' is an Earth **_**Week**_**.  
A Theian '_Decade_' is actually an Earth **_**Month**_**.  
A Theian '_Week_' is an Earth **_**Year.**_**  
A Theian '_Hour_' is an Earth **_**Decade.**_

**There's a reason I've scrambled them and it's not just to confuse Tails nor is it a silly, stupid callback. When Tails figures them out, he'll usually jump in with a thought to translate. **

**However, you, as the reader, **_**should not **_**have to be confused about this so, when it's needed, the little comparison table will be down here in later chapters.**

**For the most part, a Theian Year is essentially the same amount of time as an Earth Second. I'm not going that far.**

**Secondly, most Theians (read: most Liov and Bly) are lazy. They'll gut words, eliminate repetitive syllables, and smash words together to say things faster. Kazin does this, but has been speaking slower around Tails. Basically, Avasalane is a language built completely around leaving out superfluous words and Demivane, what Kazin speaks, is less radical variant that uses English… or whatever it's called here.**

**Lastly, most Vion that speak English have a Fwal accent, Doc included. As an accent, Fwal's most prominent feature is that you can actually understand it. **

**Anyway. Thanks for putting up with all of that and even moreso for reading.**


	4. Walk It Off

**Oh, so the site added banners, let me make one real fast... What- it's so TINY, how are we to read the thing?_!_ (unless I'm missing a magnification feature- clicking on it does nothing).  
**

**Anyway, we're winding down with the exposition and I'm aiming to pick up some speed here.**

**Second. Tails is 4.5 feet in this story, ~4.8 feet counting his huge ears. Yes, I made him and the other Sonic characters taller. In order for a few things to work in this story, Tails **_**has**_** to be at least taller than the average Liov, who in turn has to be taller than a Bly. Tails also likes to count his ears as part of his height while most other characters don't, so keep that in mind.**

**Third,** **you might be saying 'Cut your whining and make this original— it's barely a fanfic to begin with.' Well, I'm working on that.**

_4_

_Walk It Off  
_

"Well, didn't really expect that," I thought out loud to myself.

Doc's clinic was built mostly into a cliff, a small bit into a very large tree, and the rest being an actual building made of wood, brick, and a bit of stonework near the cliff. The tree housed the fore-right corner of the clinic and the tree itself had windows spiraling up about three floors, where a platform connected the tree to the cliff and lead into a staircase that went up the cliff a half-dozen steps until it reached the fence that lined the top of it. The tree looked more like a tower than anything. There was a door ground-level as well.

On the left the cliff line receded away from the front of the building, the kitchen sat there with its back door leading to a path leading around the cliff. The physical building was two stories and a small loft in the middle with two rooms. One was mine, the other, Kazin's. I think Doc had a room down in his lab for him. Probably has a literal waterbed. The part of the clinic physically in the cliff probably wasn't that large, I didn't see any windows, save for slices of the cliff side cut away just beyond where the kitchen was.

I turned and looked around again…. bar the cliff, that was pretty much the par for Sequoia— houses were built in, around, and between trees. Both on the forest floor and up in the trees. Granted, the tree houses weren't that high up—the trees themselves all slightly tilted in what had to be north—the wind, after all. Pretty much all the leaves and branches danced in the same direction, with the occasional spot where there was an odd crosswind. The sound of rustling leaves was like a constant white noise, but I think I can hear a river somewhere.

Sequoia was a decent sized village, probably several dozen houses, probably a few dozen families. Doc mentioned a good portion of the houses were empty… what did he say… extra inn-space, community gathering spots, something that probably meant storage areas, and something about monthly refugees. While the cobblestone paths certainly had some wear, tear, and patchwork in it, it didn't look all that old.

Then again, what do I know about wear patterns of pavement of alien planets? Idiot.

Besides the weaving paths below, there was a small wood pathway above, weaving through the trees, connecting most of the trees with staircases spiraling up trees to connect to it. Not sure why it didn't connect to the Tree Tower when it clearly had a walkway to the top of the cliff off to its right.

Doc's Clinic seemed to be on the main square… or that's what I would call it if it weren't for a few trees growing in the middle of the large patch of cobblestone. Paths led out of the corners and between a few of the buildings that lined the wobbly sides of the square.

It was… I want to say about mid-afternoon—when did I wake up again? Personally, I feel like it's only one. Sequoia's populace—Sequoians?—wandered the streets, mingling with each other and talking. Liov's, didn't see Kazin anywhere, Vions, and what I'm taking are Bly's—little lemur-like cat-like… guys. Well, I certainly see how my ears are like theirs—same size, vaguely the same shape. Theirs just point nearly backwards and twitch outwards. _But_ I have to wear this silly hat that makes mine angle like a Liov's and hide the fact that I don't have the lower pair. It's slightly aggravating.

"'For now, you're a Liov,'" I muttered softly, echoing Doc. "Psh. I'm a good head taller than any Liov I can see here, doc. Heck, I'm about as tall as all the Vions—Vion whatever. All the Vion I can see." All one of them.

I'm already getting the odd glances. Mostly startled looks on how tall I was. Something different.

Well, it's not the tails at least. Thank god it's not the tails.

People wandered through the square, some marketplace stalls selling what I'm guessing are vegetables, herbs, and fruit—ugh, including those periguas. Others went into actual shops, through the windows of the closest one I could see tools of some sort… and I can _just_ smell a bakery in the air somewhere downwind.

Bread. Oh, _love bread_. Bread is much better than overgrown lemons.

"Miles, I take it."

I blinked, that was less of a question and more of an acknowledgement. On my left, a Liov sat on the steps of a very important looking building, probably the Town Hall. His fur was all an earthen brown, with a darker color around the muzzle. In stark contrast, his eyes were a vivid purple and he didn't have the lines around his eyes like Kazin had. Actually, his fur lacked any real markings, it was a flat brown. He did wear clothes made from the same sort of materials as she did though, granted, he wore a loose t-shirt and khakis. He had silver-colored leather gloves on, but no other armor. Barefoot even. The thing he did have was a scabbard on his belt, complete with a short sword inside. Both sleeves of his shirt had a plain silver arc embroidered into them.

I blinked again, the Liov pushed himself off the steps, taking the few steps over. It was clear that he was far older than I was, but I still was looking down at him. I was a head taller.

This is _weird_.

"I wos tempted to shadow ya, but I figured I'd just spook ya," He continued. He has Kazin's accent, but a different dialect. Not entirely unlike Texas, if Texas was in Wisconsin. "Ah'm Jerro, one of the merc's the Town Board here hired to police Sequoia." He held out his right hand, palm down.

I blinked and glanced down at it.

"Put'cha hand undermine, palm up. Yeah, I know," He whispered. I muttered an apology and quickly did so. He grabbed it, turned it into a firm, recognizable handshake, and let go. Okay, a bit too firm on the handshake. He laughed at me as I rubbed my hand. "Things a little different here, I take it."

"…a little," I said after a second. "Amongst other things… it's a bit more peaceful here. Well, at least _here_, if I understood Hriish right."

"Eh, good. Got a bit of a history lesson before Doc had to make his trip," He nodded, a faint smile on his face. He nodded down the path between the tower and the Town Hall. "Walk'n'talk."

I hesitated, "Alright." I started walking after him, he fell in step beside me. "Uh, just so I know. I have a vague understanding where Knothole is in relation to the town, but where's… Yer-valt?"

"_Yir_-alt. Izza a quarry town not that far from here," he nodded left, towards the cliff, "Well, trying to be a quarry town. He'll be back sometime tamarrow. Now, Doc 'n Krys had to tell the Board about ya. Mostly because, well, Krys's probably shown ya the notice. But, they didn't tell 'em where yer from. Told me, though. Had to, Krys needed help getting you back. Have'ta say I wos wonderin' why ya were out there to begin with."

"…by Krys, you mean Kazin."

"Eeeh, yeah," he shrugged. "Krystall is her Merc name and, well, there's a legend about it and whatnot. But I thinks she's earned the right tehbe called Krystall. Call her Kaze if you want—uh, Kazin, I mean. _Don't_ call her Kaze, she _really_ doesn't like being called Kaze." He cleared his throat. "She's a big help to Doc—I can't stop the nastier sorts from not getting the medical attention they need, but she's usually around to keep them from turning on Doc. It's happened in other towns, even a few hostage situations. Almost happened here a few times before Krys showed up."

I scoffed, "Hard to imagine that with Doc having seven ways to kill you just by bumping into you."

Jerro stopped, then glanced around, no one else was on this path. "Tri. On his way out, Doc mentioned to me that you're world doesn't have Emp'tre. I've been thinkin' about what that exactly means for ya. What'cha gotta do is stop thinkin' in terms of putting stabby things in the oth' guy. Chai, it is still a part of it here—Doc _can_ back up inta ya and slice ya up, but Vion are a bit clumsy on land. Even Doc. More, his Emp'tre is Thunder. _Ano_Thunder. Ano means his Emp is weaker than normal—but even moseso with Doc; he can't even put up a Shield. Up against anyone else _with_ an actual Emp'tre, it's notta good day for him." He glanced at the sleeve of my shirt. "Reminds me, clip this onto yer sleeve. Either one."

He pulled out a small circular badge, white and blank except for a ring of black. He bent it several times before handing it to me. …this is adhesive activating on the back. Adhesive is not a safety pin. I spent a few seconds centering it on my right sleeve.

Jerro grabbed my badged sleeved and crumpled it thoroughly, continuing, "Luph doesn't give Emp, and, well, if you had Emp'tre, you'd know. The black ring means you have either an Ano Emp, or no Emp. Here, they're never labeled with what type of Emp anyone could have. But while it's unspecific so that you can still catch others off-guard, it still shows you don't have an Emp of any significant power."

He pulled the sleeve taut, getting rid of all the wrinkles and stepped back. I tugged on the badge a little. That is strong adhesive. That's not coming off any time soon. I looked back at him, eyeing his sleeve.

"Good," he nodded, more to my noticing his sleeve than anything, "Ya pick up fast. The Fwal try to enforce this bit of labeling on everyone tehget a bit of safety and caution, but it doesn't exactly work over here with how few they are. Back otherside, there is no Ano emblem. Here, we kinda need it if bandits or whatnot show up so they don't get too sure of themselves."

"A Scarlet Letter for everyone."

"…if that's what ya call it," He glanced at me oddly, then started off again. Of course, he has no idea what I mean. I followed him again. "The silver half-ring is Sound, probably the most abstract of 'em all. Most of the others are pretty self-explanatory." He looked back, "I mean, ya do have fire an' snowflakes, right? Light's just a patch o' yellow. An' the Psy's don't matter 'cuz they don't do anything but think." He laughed at that one.

I smiled slightly, "I do a lot of thinking."

"Do you now?" Jerro looked back at me, "Yer eyes seemed a bit too stressed out to be just a thinker. I'd say yer a fighter at heart."

I glared at him, "And you can tell all this just by looking at me."

"Alright, Doc told me a bit about ya," he shrugged. Cheater. "Besides, ya look like yer gonna bolt at any year now." Years are seconds here. If that's supposed to actually mean anything, I'm going to punch a philosopher. "I'd say relax, but that's something for you to figure out."

…like that actually makes any sense.

"…where are we headed anyway?" The path had wandered off from the buildings and followed the cliff line back, away from the majority of the buildings and the upper pathways. I seriously think the cliff is actually a plateau.

"Tri, ya'veen out for a while and, believe me, Luph-mending cramps up yer body. Not sure exactly what Doc says about this, but running around a bit will do you a world of good. Some of the kids should be at the field playing a game of Mebble. Rules are easy to learn once you see how it's played, just be careful not to have Xind run circles around you." He laughed softly.

I laughed myself, loud enough to get him to stop.


	5. Mebble

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed so far... all both of you. But really, it means a lot.  
**

**I think I saw something about increasing the size of the banner on the site's mainpage, so how does it look to everyone?  
**

**A side note, Mario vs Sonic Soccer. I've heard that Strikers is pretty fun, so adding the Sonc crew in would have a crossover game that's **_**at least**_** better than the Olympic Games, right?**

…**right?**

5

Mebble

As it turns out, Mebble is basically if Soccer and Football got together and had a kid that read way too much Harry Potter, but had to settle for the trees instead of the sky.

Jerro said it was some version of a sport back Other Side called Kribble—from what I understood, the trees were replaced with a jungle gym of sorts and there were three balls and a goal of sorts on the roof of the stadium.

Both versions had a team baton that was passed around—the bearer could use Emp passively.

So, it's basically the most awesome thing ever. Even if Emp was banned for this game.

Teams had eight players each—each supposed to have two Vion, three Bly, and two Liov with the last being any race. But only five Bly were playing and Jakk and Serri were the only Voin kids in the village and they were in goal. So Grant the Liov was in the trees and more Liov in for the Vion.

The field was about two-thirds the size of a Soccer field, oval in nature with acceptably flat grassy ground. The basic frames of the goals about twice the size of hockey goals sat on each end with fishing nets for backing. The ball was smaller than an actual soccer ball, and had several grips on it, but pretty much acted like one.

General play followed the ball between the ground and the tree branches, the team's Bly trying to surge the ball ahead and keep the ball moving as the Liov get into position below to score, or ambushing down to grab the ball and jump back up, or suddenly appearing to grab a long pass. Two always seemed to stay in the trees while the third floated. There were no positions—even the goalies can swap in game. This was all just general strategy.

Jerro had Captain Nevl put me on Float.

Even if it was a casual game, I barely lasted the ten minute period hopping up and down the branches.

And Jerro was laughing his head off. Or laughing his nai off, should I say.

"Yes. Yes, I'm sore," I groaned, sitting on the bench-log next to him. "You don't need to say 'I told you so.'"

Nevl spoke up before he did, "If that's you sore, I got to see how you play when you're not." The Bly shook his head, grinning. Finally, something here with normal teeth. No second row of teeth, no shark-teeth. They look a bit like mine. "You're faster than Max! Maybe you're as fast as me!"

On instinct, I looked over at Max as he juggled the ball on the midfield line, waiting for the next round to start. His lower ears were hidden in his green, mane-like hair. Okay, even if he could listen in on us from there, he's not. Max is a bit too abrasive for my liking… and it didn't help that he seemed almost amused by the fact I managed to keep up with him—amused in the fact that I posed a challenge and not in the friendly way. I think he's the oldest of the Liov out here, and accepted as the fastest. Most of the Bly could outrun him though.

…even if I wasn't sore, I'd still try to keep Max's pace. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Got to play fair, just like Sonic always says.

The Bly hung out in the trees and the other Liov were resting in the grass. Grant's grey head popping down from the leaves and calling to one of them to throw him up his water bottle.

Serri and Jakk were making their way to opposite ends of the field for the goalie swap, drinking from their canteens. The siblings met each other on Jakk's side of the field and stopped to talk.

A few of the others were a little overly competitive. They're all nice enough, even Max when I'm not in his way. All I've gotten was a few odd looks, a few rough shoves, and my tails accidentally stepped on once or twice with a fast apology after the ball was away from us.

No direct shots to the head. No tackles into the goalposts. No goombastomp with cleats. Nothing I can't handle.

I looked back at Nevl and shrugged, "Maybe. Give me a few minutes and I might be up for getting back in the game."

The Bly nodded and bounded off towards center.

Bly were a little interesting. My initial generalization of calling them little lemur-cats was close, but still off. They certainly had the legs of a lemur. They were little Tarzans in the trees and could lope along like a lemur, but they also could bound along a like a kangaroo on all four… if kangaroos could, you know, bounce on all fours quickly. I'm not sure if they were faster like that, but they were less predicable.

Their long ears were sharp and pointed, pointing nearly mostly backwards and twitched outwards. Actually, they were literally backwards, like they were listening to things behind them. When I was talking to Nevl earlier, he angled them outwards and angled his head as well to listen. Their muzzles were short and pointed, small fangs poking out of the mouth and the large eyes set above never really stopped moving.

All Bly have topaz eyes, something I found a bit unsettling.

Their bodies were built like a spring, of course, with short legs and longer feet with small claws. They didn't have that much of a tail and their feet were where the Bly got most of their height, even if it wasn't saying much. Pretty sure Nevl was about three feet tall and he was one of the taller ones I've seen around. Okay, me before I had my growth spurt. Fine.

Maybe he has some Vion blood in him, _eh Doc_?

I scowled. I still can't believe how long he went on about that.

Their arms were longer than their feet, ending in three fingered, plus thumb, hands, outer two longer and sporting curling claws. The index was smaller and didn't have that much of a claw.

Their fur and patterns varied only slightly amongst them all and their general fur color was mostly a maroon-ish brown… and Nevl had a pair of small, narrow horns growing out of the angle of his jaw and out of the tips of his ears. Several other Bly on the field had… horns on different parts of their faces, the nose, the eyebrows… probably the identifying feature of the Bly. One didn't have any.

Most of the Bly wore a t-shirt and khakis of various colors. Their little Emp symbol sometimes a part of the shirt itself. Nevl's Flame, for example, were waves of red dye into the sleeves of his green shirt.

…that's why Kazin noted that I didn't have any horns yesterday...

On the field, one of the Nevl grabbed the ball from Max as he was juggling it. He called for everyone to circle up. Seeing Bly, Liov, and Vion all in the same place…

Doc _was_ right. I'm a Frankenstein of all the species here. My ears acted like a Bly's but were wider, not as long, and reversed. Meanwhile, a Liov's upper pair were shorter… and Doc said they were actually immobile.

And I've got height of a Vion and a fur pattern of none. And, of course, there's the three tails.

"Yer glowering at something over there," Jerro said. "What's bothering ya?"

I sighed, "Take a guess."

"Yer homesick."

I seethed.

That's….

I shook my head, "I… I've… been trying to keep that off my mind. I… don't want to deal with that right now. Not yet. No. It's…" I sighed, "I'm just looking at everyone right now, just tallying up the pieces I look like from all the species here. The count is, once again, I'm a freak. Great."

"How so, _again_?"

"Multiple tails."

"…I'm not following."

I blinked, "Really?"

"Really what? Miles, 'snot uncommon for Liov to have multiple tails. You saw Krys, she has a split in her tail. My brother's second and fourth ex-wives had four tails an' I'm only sure two are natural. Pretty sure it was the same girl too."

"Uhhh…."

"So you've three bushy ones." He threw up his hands in mock shock, "Woo. _No one_ will really care. And if they do, it'll because they're not the usual, non-bushy Liov ones," He glanced around and smirked, "Especially the girls, wrap them up in them at night and they'll be in yer arms till morning. They _love_ that." He laughed.

"_Dating advice is_ _not what I need right now_."

Jerro laughed harder, "Just sayin'. One way to find a way back home is findin' a reason to stay."

I glared at him, "Home is under attack from a robot overlord and my best friend, the one guy who has any chance at stopping him, has been captured." …okay, I don't even know what that dream was, but anything to get him to stop at this rate. It worked. "I don't care if they made fun of me for having two tails, it's still home to me. I'm getting back there, I don't care how."

A grin slowly broke across Jerro's face, "It'll be a fight to get there, a spectacular one. I ain't gonna stop ya, but, Miles. Just one thing." His face grew serious. "I'm not sure if I'm understanding you correctly, but did you say you had two tails back home?" …and his accent dropped out?

"I… somehow picked up a third on my way—"

He stayed silent for a minute.

"Miles. I'm not understanding you, maybe you're not understanding me. But you _always_ had three tails, right? _Right?_"

All of the humor was gone from his eyes.

"….yeah, that's right. I… must have flubbed somewhere…?"

"Good good," he nodded, voice very low. "Cuz, you know, if ya had two tails an' ya picked up the third…. Who's to say ya looked completely different as well? Maybe like a certain wanted hybrid. …even _more_ like him, I mean."

…but. …I _am_ a two-tailed fox. That's who I am_…_. I'm not…

I shook my head and stood up, stretching.

Forget it, Tails. Just forget it. Deal with that later. All of this. Later.

I winced as my neck cracked and everything else complained slightly, "Ow." I shook it off and headed back out onto the field just as the group disbursed, the teams scrambled. Nevl double-taked at me.

He hopped over, "You good already?"

"Mostly." Got to keep my mind off things. "Just put me in defense somewhere—where I don't have to run that much."

"Lin," he nodded. I think that means 'okay' or something, kinda like 'Chai.' But with 'Lin,' he always seems a little hesitant. "Head towards Serri. I was going to play on her team, but I'll ref again."

"Alright."

I jogged over to the Vion as Nevl moved a few of my teammates around.

In all honesty, I didn't know Serri was a girl until I heard a pronoun. Luckily, that was before I said anything. Between her and her brother, she was the older one. Maybe as old as I was, I really don't know. Between her and Hriish, her face was narrower and sharper. Her headspines had the same pattern, but the spines over the ears were longer. Her eyes were also larger, a dark pearl-red. But I don't know if it's because she's female or was justher.

Her scales were an emerald green, her headplate a deeper color. She wore guard similar to the ones Hriish wore, but with a tad bit more padding. They were larger than Jakk's though—he said something about a fifth set when I was on his team, that they were the first sharp set of spines a Vion gets. He then went on to brag that he's shedding into his fourth set, sounding like a little kid with a loose tooth. I dunno.

Under the guards, she wore a sleeveless purple shirt and jeans similar to the ones I was wearing. An odd emblem was sewn onto her sleeve—almost like a yin-yang symbol, with a water droplet as the yin and morphing into an ice crystal on the yang. The water was overlaid onto a black ring… not sure on what that meant.

Her left two fangs snapped up into her mouth in surprise when she saw me, "Hey, Miles." I would say her voice is at least feminine, but her brother was just as high pitched and squawky as I was when I was eight. Not sure if it's them, not sure if it's them being Vion. "You were slowing down the last few minutes there. You alright?"

"Just sore," I said, standing nearby and waiting for Nevl to toss the ball in. "Jerro's right, Luph-Mending really does do a number on you."

"Then what're you doing back in so fast?"

"Had to get away from Jerro," I shrugged. She nodded. "I should be good enough to keep the ball away from you at the least."

Her fangs angled back with her smile and she waved at Nevl. The ball was thrown down from the canopy and the center fielders fought for it until it snapped back up into the branches. A few seconds later, it was spiked at Jakk, he flinched and bounced it back up.

"…and I've lost it again." At least when I was on Float I could jump up and follow it up there. There's just too many leaves down here. The canopy was thicker than it really should be.

"Watch where everyone else is looking," Serri called over. Makes sense. Mostly everyone downfield was looking up in the same general direction and reacting accordingly. "Unless they're trying to throw you off by looking in the wrong direction." …also makes sense for this game. "Just-_don'tforgettolookupyour—_!"

I jumped aside as something whizzed out of the treetops. I rolled and looked up, still on all fours.

Where'd that come from, what fired it, are they—

Tails. It's a ball. A slightly worn and torn ball that won't put holes in you. A _ball_. You know those. It's usually the one thing on the soccer field that isn't actively trying to screw you over on purpose. Stop it.

I sighed, wiped my face with my hands, and turned to see where the thing had bounced to. Right into Serri. She had actually caught it… but it looked more like a reflex action than anything.

"You okay, Serr?"

"Eh," She sighed harshly, shaking it off. Probably scared her just as much as it did me.

"Sorry!" Ferrol called down from his branch. The yellow Bly looked sheepishly down. He was the one with no horns, probably the youngest Bly here. Wasn't sure if the lack of horns was a mark of that.

I looked up to him, "Aren't you on _our_ team?"

"I was trying to bounce it down and I, uh, hit it wrong—_sorry!_ Nice dodge though!"

Yeah, it was an accident, okay, fine, whatever. I just sighed.

"Send this the _other_ way!" Serri swatted the ball to Ferrol. The little guy caught it and darted away before the other team caught up. She sighed, "And a little warning would be nice too!"

"By the time he warned us, it would have been in my face—" the ball fell from the branches not that far and I bolted toward it as fast as my cramped body would let me. I geared up for the kick—a Bly pounced down from the branches—I flicked my tails and vaulted over her as she rolled past and back up into branches.

That doesn't _work_ when I'm faster than the average Liov, Xind! I'm going to punt _you_ across the field one of these times!

I backpedaled as Xind bounced through the trees like a pinball gone mad, completely confusing Ferrol and forcing the rest of our defense to a standstill from all the duking around.

She could rocket down here any time she lands, at any moment, at any part of my side of the field. There wasn't a sense to her pattern, no real key tell when she was going to kick it until—

Ferrol got lucky and just happened to bounce onto the same branch Xind was leaping to. It bowed just enough to force Xind to drop the ball to catch it with her hands.

I got there before she could get down here and kicked it up into my hands. Bursting away as Xind pounced down, I bounced the ball of the ground and spin-kicked it down field.

The ball was passed up field and Max caught it and blitzed forward to bounce shots off of Jakk. They'd forgotten to mention to me that I couldn't carry the ball within an arc of the goal. I figured I couldn't kick within it, but have it in my hands? No. There's only been one goal while I've been playing, and it's because no one told me that.

The Vion are in goal to work on their reflexes, says Jerro, since they're not actively swimming or whatever. Exercise. They're fine. Sure, Jakk can't keep his eyes open every time the ball comes at him, but he's flinching in the right direction. Serri's more of an actual goalie. Or goaler as they call it, whatever. Neither can just catch anything unless it knocks the wind out of them.

A laugh came down from the branches, I looked up to see Xind grinning at me. "Getting fancy there." The gender difference in Bly was much easier to tell than Vion. As small as they are, Bly are still mammals. Xind wore the usual t-shirt and khakis that all the Bly here seemed to wear, hers was a sky blue with red flames ringing around the sleeves. Pretty sure she and Nevl are siblings, their horns are pretty much similar, the ones on her ears are just a bit longer and her fur was a dark red, a few shades darker than the flames on her sleeves.

I shrugged and looked away. Xind was okay, highly competitive on the field and a bit of a show-off, but okay. Honestly, she reminds me a bit of Sonic.

….that was just a dream, right? I mean… there's no way I could have just _appeared_ over there when the mending started. I _died_ over there. I mean, a plasma bolt to the face is _not_ a nice thing.

But now that I think about it… I had three tails in that dream. Why didn't I notice it in-dream?

Because it _was_ a dream. It certainly wasn't a lucid dream—I would have just dropped the sun on Shadow if it was a lucid dream.

Still felt too real to be a dream. Too real. I mean, I actually felt everything. The wind, the grass… Shadow's hand on my throat as he congratulated my survival at the lab and asked if I had any other magic tricks.

Even if that was a duplicate commanding his little platoon, his reaction when he saw me was priceless.

…now that I think of it, what exactly was on my arm—_**ball**!_

It fell to the ground not far in front of me. No one else was around—I bolted to it.

Halfway there, I realized why no one else was going for it, Kazin stood off the sidelines to my right, wrapped in plates of half-clear, blue ice and an arrow notched into her bow. The look on her face was not happy. Everyone was looking at her, those down field drifting closer. Jerro was bolting over. I left the ball and jogged toward her myself.

She glanced twice at me, but then looked over the entire group, "Is anyone missing?"

"Missing?" I echoed and looked around as well.

"Everyone outta the trees!" Jerro shouted. Four Bly hopped down immediately. Grant slowly jumped down a second or so later. Jerro quickly counted heads. "All here. What's going on?"

"Guess." Her ice helmet cracked and split open to let her ears flare out, the ice hollowing into a dish around them. She looked around again, "Get everyone back t'own. Now."

Jerro glanced at me, then turned to Serri and called over to her, "Serr, take yer guards off. You, Nevl, Xind, Dozer, and Max take everyone back to Sequoia. Take 'em straight to the library, like always."

"And me?" I asked. Something's going down and I want to know what's up.

Jerro glared at me, "Tri, do you have an Emp?" Uh, no. "Do you have a weapon?" No but— "Are you in any state to fight?" As much as I want to say yes, the soreness says no…. He nodded, "Then yer part of the 'everyone.'" He glanced around again. After a second he whispered, "…okay. Since Doc's not in right now, I want you to lock down the Clinic. If anyone tells ya otherwise, tell them I said so. A'ight? I'll be there soon enough. Last thing we need is Doc on our case for losing his supplies to bandits again."

"Okay.".

Wait, _again_?

"Good. An' _be careful_. Doc'll go and put _me_ in a stretcher if you go and get hurt again, vel'chai?" He nodded away, "Go."

I hesitated and looked at Kazin, she was giving me a flat stare, but nodded reassuringly. I nodded back and ran over to the group.

Serr was at the back, and gave a sharp whistle get the attention of the other leader of the little group. She waved them forward. I caught up just as the train started. She lagged behind the rest, glancing over the treetops and flaring out the spines over her ears—they're actually webbed to the back of her head, like an actual ear. Or at least the top bit of it was. Also… since she has more of them, the spines on her head actually look more like hair. Huh.

I fell in step next to her.

So… as it turns out, the arm-guards on the Vions happened to hide even more spines, two on each arm. A long one, probably about two feet, right next to the wrist and a much shorter one just short of the elbow that stretched a bit beyond it. Both looked very sharp, and ended with points. Serri was also able to move them quite a bit, the wrist spine laid flat against her arm on the right, while the one on the left went straight over the back of her hand like some sort of wrist dagger.

And, like just like hedgehogs, they have a few spines on their back. Serri had one off each shoulder blade and a longer ones running down her spine.

One of the younger Liov ahead of us was carrying her guards for her. Jakk even had his guards off… though his spines, aside from having points, were clearly blunt on the edges, far shorter, and underdeveloped. I don't think he could move them that much either. That still didn't stop him from pretending like he was a big force of the group—his head twisted and turned so much that it was comical.

"Lemme guess, Krys was hunting bandits and she lost them around here?" Serri said quietly before I could say anything. There was faint discussion in the group ahead and no one was really paying attention to us back here.

"…she did say something about a warrant or something. Maybe it was for bandits. You think they looped back here?"

"If she's here, they must've." She laughed slightly, but nervously, "Fifth time this had happened since I've got here. Second time she's the one who chased them here."

"And the entire escort brigade?"

"I _really_ hope it's just for safety sake," She sighed, "But when I, Jakk, and Da were heading through the towns to here, I heard a rumor that when Yir'alt was first getting started, bandits ransacked the town a few times and kidnapped and ransomed some of the villagers." She shook her head. "They're building a huge wall there now out of the stone they bring up from the mines, but how exactly do Bandits get over here?" She sighed and looked at me, "I mean. Do you know how hard it was to get the three of us—" She cut herself off and shook her head, but smiled at me again, "Course you don't. Sorry. I can't stop talking when I'm nervous."

"S'all right," I shrugged. "I do the same thing sometimes."

"You're just saying that to make me feel better," She laughed. "You're Luph-Muddled, you don't _know_."

Luph-Muddled's slang for Luhporine-induced amnes—wait a second, I'm actually going to have to _act_ like I have no memory! Bloody….

I half-laughed, "Eh…. You got me."

God, I _hate_ amnesiacs. Hate them. Despise them. Couldn't stand _Borne Identity_ (the book, the movie was okay), could barely put up with Sonic the one time he took a blow to the head and forgot who we all were for a week. I think he actually dated Amy once or twice. It might explain why she was so happy that week, even if she was creeped out all the same.

We were following the path Jerro and I took to get here… and it would be another three minutes until we got to the fork next to the cliff and another two to get back to the square.

"Why exactly is the Mebble field this far away from town again? It seems like a rather silly place to put it."

Serri laughed again, "When I first got here, I asked that the first time I went to play. My Da said Sequoia was going grow like crazy once they have the immigration issue resolved and the Mebble field would then be just next to the town. _That_… was four decades ago."

Decades are months, so that's four months.

She shrugged and looked more towards me than the usual Vion side-on look, "So what do you think?"

I gave her a confused look, "Think of what?"

She shrugged, "Dunno. You're Muddled and you're new here."

"What do I think of being Muddled, or what do I think of being new? Both answers are the same—I hate it." I hate amnesiacs as much as I hate stairs, elevators, train yards (not the trains, just the yard), lawyers, and being new. Ayn Rand and her three hundred page speech most of all, good _god_. Ghosts too. Hate ghosts. Hate being new.

And, of course, _despise_ Shadow. He can go and—

"Well, I can't really help with the Muddle," Serri shrugged, "but I know what it's like being new here. Doc probably put Jerro up to this, but hey, it worked."

"…what worked?"

Serri sniggered, "Com'on, think. This is your first day up, right? Would Doc _really_ just have you out here to run around a lot on your first day out of the Clinic?"

…why didn't I pick up that sooner?

I scowled and looked away. We walked past the fork in the road.

"Miles, what's with that look?" Serri asked, more confused than anything.

Yes, Tails. What _exactly_ is that look for. It's not anyone's going to betray you here. …they can say you're the guy from the wanted notice, they can say that you're actually from Earth and _not_ Muddled. But they won't know unless _you _tell them. You don't need to tell them that. The _certainly_ can't tell Shadow anything, can they? Not like it actually matters anymore...

"I don't like being tricked."

"Who's tricking you—you _actually_ thought it was just for the run around, _wow_. …and what were we then?"

"Kids in the village playing the game. I was just there to be there—I don't—" Amnesiac. You're supposed to be an amnesiac. Think like an amnesiac! "I'd say you wouldn't understand—but I don't understand it either. I…" I sighed and rubbed my head for effect, "I just know I don't like being tricked, and you all were part of the trick and…."

Serri laughed softly. I tossed her another confused glare. "You're angry because you've been 'tricked' and 'betrayed' into having friends. That's what's going on right now. As far as convoluted schemes, this was a _beneficial_ one." She shook her head. "Miles, _I'm_ trying to be your friend right now because you really don't want to fall into the refugee crowd. Trust me, they're a snotty bunch. …do I have to ask permission, or does this entire 'having friends' thing feel wrong to you?"

I just laughed softly. Serri smiled, showing off way too many fangs for me to be comfortable with.

I looked away, "You know, for being the rear guard, you're awfully terrible at it. You've been talking at me more than you've been guarding anything."

"Nothing ever happens to us." Again, I narrowed my eyes at her in confusion. "The first time this happened, I was terrified while Jakk thought this was all a blast. There was another Bly who had the rear guard back then. Somewhere along the way I tripped and kinda broke down…" She looked away, "It sounds silly now, but… I'm from Other Side—I got caught up in—you should be _thankful_ that you can't remember anything about Other Side. Jakk was lucky, Da kept him safe while we went out to find food..." She shook her head and looked back to me. "Basically he helped me up and said that no bandit in their right mind would dare attack us kids.

"Attack the town, everyone goes on high alert, the Fwal go looking for you, but it's not so bad. Mess with the kids and it's basically a death sentence. Not only do you have the town guard after you, you have every mercenary, every Fwal unit, and every _other_ town guard wanting your nai. And Arkell help you if you actually _hurt_ any of them. It's why you usually see at least one kid injured in any bandit raid. Doesn't matter if the town gets destroyed so long as the kids are safe."

"Then why are you nervous if they're not…" I faded off and rolled my eyes at myself. Bandits are in town, _idiot._ This is still _happening_."Forget it." I sighed and let silence fall for a minute or so. "So where'd the Bly go?"

She huffed sadly, "He left a decade after I got here. His parents died in an accident at Yir'alt and… well, he just left one night. …I kinda really liked—" She cut herself off and looked away, her face darkening. …she's blushing isn't she?

I kept a straight face, "I can keep a secret; that's what friends are for, right?" …that came out a bit too flat for my liking.

"Eh… thanks." Well, it was good enough for her.

I rolled my eyes and sighed softly. She didn't say anything else, but her blush took a while to fade.

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**In all honesty, first version of this chapter had Tails going to hunt bandits only to show how bad of a state he was. It was awkward and there really wasn't any way Kazin would have brought him along in the first place. So Jerro had to call him out on it now rather than when Tails is hurting on the ground.  
**

**Stuff happens in the next few chapters, though. Some conflict-y stuff.  
**

**Thanks for reading! And a comment would be wonderful as well.  
**


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